Distribution

Breeding Range

Figure 1. Breeds throughout central Canada in band extending from Newfoundland, Labrador, and e. Nova Scotia, south of Hudson Bay to e.-central British Columbia. In e. Canada, breeds primarily between 48 and 58°N, with records from Anticosti I., Magdalen Is., Cape Breton I., and e.-central Nova Scotia (Erskine 1992, Gauthier and Aubry 1996). To west, breeding range becomes more northern (approximately 55–60°N at Saskatchewan-Alberta border), before moving south again in British Columbia (Campbell et al. 1990, Semenchuk 1992, Smith 1996). In Alaska, breeds from Etolin and Kupreanof Is. in southeast to Yukon Valley in north, Yukon Delta in west, and Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak I. in southwest (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959, B. McCaffery and R. MacIntosh pers. comm.). Occurs, and probably breeds, in intervening area and north to se. Yukon, despite lack of confirmed breeding records (Campbell et al. 1990, P. Sinclair pers. comm.). Combination of few observers through much of the potential range, inhospitable habitat, and difficulty of confirming breeding suggests that breeding range extends beyond that shown in Figure 1 . Single pairs breeding far outside of normal range reported for 69°N in Northwest Territories (1963; Martell et al. 1984) and ne. Oregon (1983–1986; Evanich 1992, Paulson 1993). Nonbreeding individuals regularly occur throughout wintering range during breeding season. Historical report of 2 nests in Argentina thought, on basis of distressed adults, to belong to Greater Yellowlegs (Holland 1892); these observations were refuted by A. Wetmore (in Bent 1927), and no subsequent studies support them.

Winter Range

Figure 1. Throughout central California, across s. Arizona and New Mexico (with northern extensions along Colorado River into Nevada, and along Rio Grande), through central Texas and southern half of states bordering Gulf of Mexico to Florida. Extends north along Atlantic Coast to New York and sporadically to e. Massachusetts (Veit and Peterson 1993); extends north along Pacific Coast to s. Oregon, with small numbers increasingly regular north to s. British Columbia (Buchanan 1988, Gilligan et al. 1994). Casual north of typical wintering range (Key 1991, Paton et al. 1992). Winters throughout Mexico south to Isthmus of Tehuantepec and in coastal and near coastal (lowland) areas of Central America from the isthmus south to Panama (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989, Howell and Webb 1995). Also winters in varying numbers throughout West Indies (Dod 1981, Raffaelle 1989, Evans 1990), and locally throughout South America south to Tierra del Fuego (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990). Rare during winter in Bermuda (Amos 1991).

Rare migrant in Hawaiian Is. Casual in Europe; most records from British Isles are from between Jul and Nov, also some Mar–May (Alström and Colston 1991). Other European records from: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. Also reported in Russia (Glustchenko and Dorogoi 1986), Japan (Brazil 1991), Micron-esia (Marshall Is.; Baker 1951), and South Africa (Hockey 1997).

Historical breeding records include Maine, Iowa, Minnesota, and rarely n. Illinois (Knight 1908), suggesting that in the past, breeding range extended farther south than it does today.

Bones from 3 birds found at sites used by people of Fremont cultural groups (550–1,650 years ) in Utah (Parmalee 1980).